Late introduction

[SteelCurtain]

Welcome!

I'm glad you decided to stick around.

We're a great haven in the storm.

[Razzle]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! I'm glad you're happy to have me.

Buddhism? yeh it's cool without the woo (not that there is too much of it, but the woo isn't non-existent either) and I feel it is very practical and realistic in it's philosophy.

BTW, WELCOME it is great to have you among us.

Welcome! I investigated Buddhism myself in the past but it wasn't my cup of tea. It certainly the least baggage of any of the major religions and perhaps the most useful. teachings.

Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism all have their higher teachings that monastics learn about on the one hand, and on the other hand the populist teachings about superstition, getting yourself merit for the next life, magic tricks, and/or worshipping deities. This is very much like the difference between mainstream Christianity and Christian Mysticism, and mainstream Islam and Sufism (many Christian mystics and Sufi Muslims have essentially the same non-dualistic philosophy I'm talking about, or something at least closer to non-dualism than to the mainstream of their religion). The higher teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism aren't huge stretches of interpretation of the texts, and their proponents aren't heretics for believing them, whereas Christian mystics and Sufis have to be very careful to use ambiguous language to outsiders if they don't want to be denounced by the majority or even put to death for blasphemy. In the West, we tend to see East Asian religions as far more sophisticated than the Abrahamic religions (I don't call them "Western religions" because I maintain that the West is natively and culturally pagan as is almost everywhere on Earth, and pointing out Judeo-Christianity is foreign and Middle Eastern pisses off jingoistic conservative Christians ). The difference really is that the sophisticated philosophies of the West have been suppressed throughout history by religious oppression, and only the superstitious and inerrancy-based versions of these religions have been officially sanctioned, legal and open to anyone who really wanted to find out about them.

When anyone wants to know roughly what general flavour of Buddhism I'm into, I direct them to one of my favourite people I've never met, Alan Watts, RIP. I love listening to his lectures. Here he is explaining the understanding of Buddhist rebirth and Hindu reincarnation, and the meaning of "ending the cycle of rebirth" (a metaphor for the cessation of the illusion that our consciousness is a continuous entity passing through time instead of a stream of always new and separate moments of awareness), that at least some high ranking Buddhists and Hindus have written about for thousands of years, but are unfortunately rare among the laity of Hindu and Buddhist communities. This is one of the best brief explanations I've heard of non-dual/monistic/Buddhist/Advaita/whatever philosophy, which is very hard to articulate and very easy to make sound like New Age woo (not least because many New Agers have adopted the same philosophy, tried to bring quantum physics into it when they they don't understand that subject, and attached their own brand of woo to it). 

Hello to you. Did you name yourself after an interesting British Magazine from the 1980s?

I haven't heard of that, I was born in the late 80s. Raz is a diminutive form of my real name, and Razzle is just me being cute. 

-Raz

[omnomnom]

Hi guys,

When I first started posting I wasn't feeling great and didn't give a formal introduction. But while I'm doing better I'll explain why I'm here despite not suffering any personal hardships or discrimination at the hands of theism.

I'm very lucky compared to most members of forums like this. Few people give a damn if you don't believe in God here. Those who do, aren't surprised or shocked that you don't, and don't have specific preconceived notions about you on that basis, because it's so common that we can't be stereotyped. Most of us were never indoctrinated in the first place, or any attempt was half-hearted or incompetent, so there are no particular personality types or political persuasions strongly associated with British atheists. It's my impression that even most of our most controversial/troll-like conservatives (our equivalents of Ann Coulter, say) are atheists or non-religious vague-theists. So despite living in what's technically a theocracy, I can't complain about the effect of religion on my life.

However I've long had a fascination with religion and a lot of subjects that cross paths with it a lot, including history, science, psychology and philosophy. And atheist comedy online is some of the best. Theism is not up my arse, I don't need advice or to vent about it, I just find the subject a fruitful source of distraction and humour.

I'm into Advaita/non-dual/Buddhist philosophy, whatever you want to call it, and find some Buddhist practices, like mindfulness meditation, helpful too. Zen art, poetry and writings are special to me. They seem to make no sense at all if you don't know the philosophy and the figures of speech, metaphors and idioms common in the culture they came from. It's not for everyone though, some people get extremely freaked out by the implications of no-self, no-thingness etc., no free will or controlling central agent of or "self" to have free will in the first place, and I felt the same at first, but now it comforts me and I try to remind myself and get myself in that state of consciousness where there is no sensation of having an central, controlling agent behind the mind, and no sensation of enduring through time, rather being one moment of consciousness that will be replaced by another, separate one, and which has no past of its own either. Unfortunately the more anxiety there is, the harder that is to do, but when I do break through it, it's very comforting. The people I've told about it find it weird that that would comfort me in any way. Apart from those who've done LSD; they seem to get it.  [emoji14]

Although my first post was initially just seeking reassurance over something I thought this would be a good place to get answers about, I've decided to stick around. Intelligent debate, serious subjects, good humour and kindness don't very often partner up online, so I'll shelter with you guys for a while! 

Contact me if you want to know about how to reach higher planes of consciencesness. You're interest in this stuff is the same reason why I was into Hinduism before. Ever heard of astral projection? Do try it out someday. It'll change your life.

[brewer]

Belated Welcome.

[LastPoet]

Oooohhh astral projection seems neat. Whatever the fuck that is. Pardon my french.

[The Grand Nudger]

Welcome aboard Razzle.

[Longhorn]

Hi

Now let me add the waffles



Welcome c:

[RandomPastaFan]

A formal welcome to AF Razzle.

[ignoramus]

Another warm welcome from Australia.
You certainly sound intelligent and level headed...

[pocaracas]

Oh look, another Brit.
Welcome aboard from sunny Portugal!